Marrying the Enemy
by Madd Kougar
Summary: Sharley has returned to the Desert Kingdom only to find an embassy from the Empire awaiting him. What issues await him during this newest adventure? What secret will he uncover that change his life as he knows it? Only time will tell...
1. Whipped Kitten

**Chapter One:**

**Whipped Kitten**

In the last four years since General Scipio Bellorum's deadly defeat, Prince Charlemagne Athelstan Redrought Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, Shadow of the Storm had grown taller and matured into a fine young man.

"A fine young man of marrying age." His mother reminded him for at least the eighth time that morning over breaking fast. "It is about time you find a girl and settle down with her! Give me a grandchild or eight! Goodness knows when either of your siblings will start a family." Thirrin, Queen of Icemark glared at her unmarried daughter and sons.

"Indeed, most wise mother." Sharley rolled his eyes and nodded vigorously as if he'd really been listening. "Unfortunately I've got to make an urgent trip to the Desert Kingdom. Mekhmet needs me for... err... something." Sharley declared lamely, making his words up as he went along.

"Really?" Cressida asked sarcastically as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Eodred yelped and then blurted, "Where is the letter demanding your presence, Sharley?" The only reason Eodred had gotten involved in the conversation was because of his sister's sharp elbow jab to his stomach at the same time as his mother's heavy boot stomped on his foot.

Sharley stared at his older brother for a second or two, knowing full well what had happened out of sight. "Right here." He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his jacket.

Thirrin immediately leaned across the table and yanked the paper from Sharley's hands. She quickly unfolded it and then let out a disappointed sighed. "It is in the Desert People's language..." Her father may have educated Queen Thirrin forcibly but that didn't mean she had a knack for picking up languages the way her youngest child could.

Cressida was handed the letter and sighed as well, echoing her mother perfectly. "Do we bother having you read this to us or do we just take your word for it?" She asked when she too realized that only Sharley knew how to read the symbols scrawled across the paper.

"Just take my word for it." Sharley said decisively as he tucked the joke letter about what Mekhmet had eaten for lunch that week, back into his jacket.

"It's not some sort of lunch schedule, is it?" Eodred asked and was promptly jabbed and stomped on once more.

Fortunately for Sharley, while his mother and sister were occupied with scolding Eodred, he could regain his composure.

_He has no idea how close he was to hitting the truth!_ Sharley thought as he desperately held in a bark of laughter.

"When are you leaving?" Thirrin asked, resigned that her eighteen-year-old Sharley was a baby no longer.

"Three days." Sharley said slowly, figuring three days would give him enough time to tell everyone that would be leaving with him that they were leaving.

"And when will you be coming back?" Oskan asked as he stepped into the room and took a seat next to his Queen.

"Err, I," Sharley mumbled incoherently before stuffing a large piece of meat into his mouth that would take quite some time to chew and swallow.

Thirrin and Cressida sighed together as Oskan raised a brow; they weren't fooled by this display of Sharley stuffing his mouth. Eodred, on the other hand, could only watch with jealousy as Sharley chewed on the hunk of meat he himself had been reaching for.

* * *

Three days later Thirrin and Oskan stood on the battlements and watched their youngest child ride away from them, again.

"Will he be safe?" Thirrin whispered like the worried mother she was.

Oskan simply bobbed his dark head up and down, not bothering to speak his answer aloud.

"Do you have any idea when he will come back to us?" With these words Thirrin turned to stare into Oskan's eyes.

"No, I doubt that he knows yet when he will be returning home."

Thirrin smiled sadly and shook her head slowly. "That is the problem, Sharley is heading home."

Oskan carefully chose not to respond to a comment that was painfully true.

Minutes later Sharley and his party were out of sight and both Thirrin and Oskan returned to their duties, thankful to have something to keep their minds off their beloved son.

* * *

Many days later Sharley arrived in his personal chambers inside the Desert Kingdom Palace. He groaned as he sank into bed and was out within moments.

Sharley was rudely awakened hours later by the vicious shaking of his shoulder. "Come, Sharley, I need you to wake up!" Mekhmet cried as he swatted his friend's head.

"What are you doing here?" Sharley asked, slightly dazed as he struggled to sit up.

"I live here." Mekhmet answered wryly.

"Not here," Sharley waved a hand to signal the Desert Kingdom. "Here here! In _my_ room!"

"Oh, I didn't want to bother waiting for how long if would take a servant to get you up so I came to do it myself."

Sharley snorted. "Because you know that I very well can't kick you out on your hairy arse." He grumbled as he slid out of bed and headed for the washing basin.

"Exactly," Mekhmet called over his shoulder as he exited the room. "I'd better see you in the breaking fast room in less than half an hour!"

"Slave driver of all things evil!" Sharley grumbled but washed and dressed before heading to meet up with Mekhmet. "What is so important that I had to get up so blasted early?" Sharley demanded as he entered the private dining room only he and Mekhmet were allowed to use.

Mekhmet patiently waited until Sharley was seated and had started to take a drink from his glass before answering. "There is an embassy arriving from the Polypontian Empire this afternoon." Mekhmet continued on despite the fact that his friend had just spewed liquid all over himself. "Actually, they're already here. They just won't be meeting with me until this afternoon." He finished and finally glanced at his friend. "I thought you'd like to be there."

Sharley stared at Mekhmet, trying to form a coherent sentence with all the questions, thoughts, and downright outrages that were running through his head at the moment. Eventually, Sharley spat out, "Yes. I'd like to be with you. But what in the world were you thinking letting them come! I know that as Sultan you have different responsibilities! But what gives them the right to meet with you!" Sharley's voice had risen as had he and he found himself shouting as he stood over his still seated friend.

"The reason I'm letting them come is because I'd rather have them acting diplomatic than hostile." Mekhmet answered calmly. "Besides, I already think I know what they want and I can't give it to them."

"What do they want?" Sharley asked warily as he resumed his seat.

"You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else." Mekhmet replied and watched out of the corner of his eye as Sharley's face turned purple with rage.

"Ah!" Sharley screamed and lunged at Mekhmet who'd been expecting this move and was already out of his seat.

"Really! Is this any way to treat your Sultan?" He asked cheerfully as he ran out through an open doorway and slammed the door in Sharley's face.

"He won't be alive much longer to care with the way things are going!" Sharley shouted back and leaned against the wall.

* * *

Amilei took in the golden gates and the endless sand with wide eyes and an otherwise blank expression. She refused to neither frown nor smile when the Desert People who stood along the side of the road offered her food and drink and pretty trinkets.

What seemed like hours past and Amilei found herself standing in front of a large raised platform. On the platform sat the Sultan and his heir, a prince from the barbaric land to the north. The Icemark. It was rumored that the people there were so fierce that the moment their children were born they left them outside for an entire day, supposedly to eliminate the weak. It was also said that the women of the Icemark were just as large and brutal as the men and had no fears of fighting anyone and everyone that crossed their paths.

As Amilei contemplated the rumors she'd heard her entire life the Ambassador introduced himself and without pause began bargaining with the Sultan.

"The Emperor himself wishes for an alliance between your kingdom and his empire."

He doesn't beat around the bush, I'll give him credit for that. Amilei thought humorlessly.

"I'm sure he does." A deep, powerful voice muttered loudly and Amilei found herself smiling.

The gesture did not go unnoticed by the Ambassador and he laid a forceful hand on Amilei's shoulder. Amilei had to use all the willpower she possessed to not cringe at his touch.

"That is why he has sent her to be your bride." The Ambassador pushed onwards, pretending he hadn't heard the other man's comment.

"But I am sure that your Emperor knows that I'm already married." The young Sultan replied with a cool voice.

"Of course!" The Ambassador scrambled. "But do your laws not state that a man is allowed more than one wife?"

Amilei's face heated as she had not known that Sultan Mekhmet was already married.

"It once did, yes, but I changed it with my father's passing." The young man replied and Amilei felt her heart sink.

_I can't believe that I was stupid enough to actually believe I'd be able to get away from the Empire. I should have known escape into the Desert Kingdom wasn't a real option. _She thought as she fought to hold back tears.

"I see." The Ambassador replied after a long moment of silence, the entire time during which he'd squeezed the life out of Amilei's shoulder. "Then I am authorized to make another offer." He dropped his hand and Amilei froze, a sense of dread washing over her.

* * *

Sharley stared at the pompous ambassador and his slight charge, a mere slip of a girl. "What is he up to now?" He muttered under his breath as he watched the girl stiffen slightly.

"Yes?" Mekhmet asked, prepared to at least hear the man out.

"In that case that you would not marry the girl I have been given orders by the Emperor himself to offer her to someone else." The man paused and Sharley frowned, not liking the triumphant smile nor the gleam in the man's beady little eyes. "I am offering the girl to your unmarried heir."

A tense silence fell over the chamber.

* * *

_That is just not possible!_ Amilei's mind screamed in outrage. Her breath came out in short bursts and it was all she could do not to collapse upon the ground in a sobbing heap. _Just when I thought my life couldn't get any worse this is what happens. _

Amilei knew that living under the Empire's rules would be better than living in the savage land of the Icemark.

_Being a second wife would be better than being the only wife of a monster. _

And marry they would, Amilei knew, because the bargain a marriage between her and one of the allies would be too huge to turn down.

* * *

Sharley started and forced his jaw to remain in place as his mind went otherwise blank. "What?" He whispered to Mekhmet switching back to his native language when the Ambassador had been using the Desert people's tongue.

Mekhmet effortlessly switched languages as well and replied to his friend in the tongue Sharley had been raised with. "I do believe your hand was just asked for." A stunned silence fell over the two friends. "In marriage," Mekhmet clarified, as if Sharley hadn't already figured that out.

All in all, Mekhmet seemed just as stunned if not more so than Sharley himself. "I am so sorry, if I'd known this would happen I would have never asked you to come today. I honestly thought that they'd only ask me and I'd be able to refuse easily."

"But nothing is ever that simple, is it?" Sharley asked as the muscles in his jaw tightened at the mere thought of being played by someone as low as the Polypontian Empire's ambassador. The slimy little man irritated Sharley for reasons he'd yet to figure out.

"Apparently not," Mekhmet replied sullenly as he slumped in his throne.

"What have you gotten me into now?" Sharley asked rhetorically as Mekhmet stood.

Mekhmet, of course, ignored him completely and spoke to the ambassador. "I will have to discuss this will not only my advisors but my heir-"

The Empire's ambassador waved his head and started speaking, rudely cutting Mekhmet off. "You have the next few minutes to decide one way or the other. After that the offer vanishes and the Emperor himself will see it as a personal offence by both the Icemark and the Desert Kingdom."

This took Sharley out of his seat so that he and Mekhmet stood, staring down at the Ambassador and his female bargaining chip. "I'm being blackmailed into marriage." He mumbled as Mekhmet and he put their heads together.

"We all know that the Empire does not have nearly enough recourses to fight both the Icemark and the Desert Kingdom. Not after the last war." Mekhmet said with forced confidence.

"Yes, but they can still do damage. Lives will still be lost. I'm not willing to be the cause of that." Sharley said as his green eyes avoided Mekhmet's black ones.

"So you're willing to martyr yourself?" Mekhmet demanded, outraged by the mere thought.

"It's not necessarily, she looks rather lovely…" Sharley said evasively and waved a hand in the general hand of the small figure.

"She's completely covered from head to toe. I wouldn't recognize my own wife in that ensemble. How can you tell that female you've never meet is lovely when all you can see is blue cloth?"

"I'm guessing."

Mekhmet rolled his eyes. "Besides, even if she is lovely, I'm sure it will make everything better when she stabs you in your sleep."

Sharley let out a slightly hysterical laugh that was completely humorless. "Tell the pompous arse I'll marry the girl but that she spends the rest of her stay here and not with him."

Mekhmet started at Sharley for a moment. "Why?" He asked finally, he black brows drawing together in confusion.

"Because now that I'm agreeing to marry her…" Sharley trailed off and gave his friend a pointed look.

"…she doesn't necessarily have to remain untouched." Mekhmet said slowly and softly, nodding as he spoke.

Sharley nodded in agreement and returned to his seat heavily, slouching down in a rather dejected manner.

* * *

"We agree to your terms. My heir shall marry the girl the Emperor himself felt entitled to provide."

It was an obvious slight, but one the Ambassador had no response for.

_No._ Amilei's mind whispered and a tear dripped down her cheek.

"Wonderful! The wedding can take place a week from now! Until then, we'll just return to camp." The Ambassador's hand returned to Amilei's shoulder before traveling to tighten in a vise like grip around her upper arm.

"No." The voice that had earlier mocked the Ambassador declared, full of unquestionable authority.

"I do not understand?" The Ambassador asked as he stared up at the raised platform the Sultan and his heir were seated upon.

"The girl will remain here until the wedding, which will take place tomorrow. You are welcome to come if you so choose. But as her betrothed I believe I have the right to keep her here." The voice neared and a pair of brown boots entered Amilei's down cast vision.

The Ambassador sputtered as Amilei was dragged from his grip and into the arms of who she now realized was the Icemark man.

"You may go now." The voice rumbled against Amilei as she was pressed against a warm, solid wall of man.

"I," The Ambassador continued, flustered.

"Guards!" The man shouted as he turned and led Amilei away from the throne room.

"Thank you." She whispered in the Empire's language.

"You're welcome." The man answered and Amilei bit back a gasp, not realizing that he could speak her native tongue. "Do you have a name?" The man asked as he gently shoved Amilei inside a room and she glanced around, careful to keep her back to the man so that he could not see her face.

"Amilei," She whispered and waited for her betrothed to ask another question.

"Do you have any belongings you wish me to retrieve from the Ambassador before he has them destroyed?" The man asked just as quietly.

"The only valuables I own I keep in a hidden pocket in my dress. Everything else I own is just clothes. I do not care if they are ruined."

"Alright. I'll return in the morning to... escort you... to our wedding." The man forced the words out as if the very thought was painful, and maybe it was. "Until then you need to stay in this room." The man paused to let his words sink in. "Someone is being sent to spend the night in here with you and they'll help you dress appropriately in the morning." With those words a knock was sounded on the door and the man answered it. A few moments later Amilei found herself in the company of a Desert Kingdom woman, the man, her betrothed, had left.

* * *

"Who do you think she is, Mekhmet?" Sharley asked as he slid into a chair beside his friend.

Mekhmet shrugged. "Obviously the daughter of someone important or the Emperor wouldn't risk marrying her off to you."

"Obviously," Sharley replied and pondered this for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to have a scholar handy that knows anything about the favored families of the Empire, would you?"

"Actually, I think I just might." Mekhmet sounded stunned that Sharley had come up with the very thing he himself had missed.

Under half an hour later a man had been summoned and was standing before Sharley and Mekhmet.

"I was told that you know a few things about the Polypontian Emperor's favorite families." Sharley said and stared down at the man.

"I do." The scholar replied fiercely, puffing himself up to look like a bird that'd had his feathers rumpled.

"Do you know which family has a daughter of marrying age named Amilei?" Sharley asked slowly, not paying any attention to the little man's display of making himself appear bigger.

The man thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, sire, but that does not surprise me. The Empire does not value women for anything aside from breeding and making fine political matches through arranged marriages."

"I see." Mekhmet replied, knowing that before he'd taken the throne his country had been much the same way.

"So the daughters' names are not all the important." The little scholar finished. "Perhaps if you gave me a description I could do a little digging..."

Sharley shook his head. "No, I don't know what she looks like. She's kept herself entirely hidden from our view."

The scholar nodded. "Not surprising either. The Empire's women are raised to be modest, submissive, and to follow orders and commands without question."

"Great!" Sharley exclaimed sarcastically and shook his head mournfully. "I'm marrying a whipped kitten!"


	2. Getting Married

**Chapter Two:**

**Getting Married**

The next morning came all too soon for Sharley as he rose and splashed clean water onto his face. "Ugg," He groaned as he got a good look at himself in the mirror.

He hadn't gotten much sleep because he'd spent most of the night tossing and turning as he worried about his bride to be.

"What have you gotten yourself into, laddie?" He asked himself, mimicking one of his few friends from the Icemark. The man was a slim shouldered stable hand barely nineteen years of age.

"I honestly don't know, Edwin." Sharley answered his imagination and turned away from his reflection in order to dress in loose black pants that clinched at the ankles and a looser black shirt that opened to his sternum. The ensemble was complete with a plain sword belt. Sharley left off his shoes, as was the custom in the Desert Kingdom, he remembered from Mekhmet's wedding.

"Are you ready, milord?" His personal chamberlain called into the room, not daring to enter as Mekhmet had done only yesterday.

Only yesterday… it seemed like ages ago that Sharley had arrived back at the palace of his best friend.

Sharley merely grunted loudly in response to his chamberlain and stared at his reflection one last time before presenting himself for expecting. After gaining clearance from his chamberlain, Sharley headed for the door.

Sharley ran a hand through his red mane, the only sign betraying his nervousness. He was upset by the fact the he was getting married without his family present. He was disgusted by the fact he wasn't marrying someone he cared about. But he was even more ill at ease by the fact that the Empire had managed to place him in a position where he really had no way out.

"Really hate that place." Sharley grumbled to himself as he strode down the hallway with a slight limp.

Recently his bad leg, as he now called it, only acted up when he was under extreme stress of the emotional kind. And his upcoming wedding that was to take place in a matter of hours was definitely stressful for the young man even when he projected a calm outward appearance and a willingness to be the participant in the Empire's newest scheme.

* * *

Mekhment glanced up when his friend entered the breaking fast room, curious to see what the other man had chosen to wear to his wedding. "Sharley?" The Sultan asked in a partially warning, partially disbelieving tone.

"Yes?" Sharley asked innocently, not bothering to glance up as he took his seat.

"Please, please, please tell me that you are not wearing _that_ to your own wedding." Mekhmet begged to no avail.

"I most certainly am! If it was good enough to wear to _your_ wedding it is perfect to wear to my own day of torture!" Sharley declared as he slammed his mug down on the table.

"And when the bride appears in all her finery and you look like an arse?" Mekhmet asked as he bit into a purplish colored fruit.

"I," Sharley started then paused. He looked as if pondering this new problem before shaking his head and finishing. "I don't care what she will be wearing, I'm wearing this!"

* * *

"I am wearing this and I don't care what that barbarian has to say about it!" Amilei yelled for the eighth time as a third maid tried to convince her to change out of the simple blue smock and tight cream pants she was currently wearing. It was much different than the expensive coverings she'd been forced to don last night in order to dazzle herself a husband.

"But-" The newest maid protested and was silenced but an elegant wave of Amilei's slender hand.

"If my future husband doesn't like what I wear then he doesn't have to marry me!" Amilei said with an air of finality.

The other woman immediately shut her mouth because she knew very well that without the upcoming marriage war would ensue, possibly crippling her beloved kingdom and home and potentially putting her loved ones in danger.

"At least let me style your hair." The maid begged and Amilei gave in with a small sigh.

"Very well, nothing too fancy though." The girl plopped down in a chair with a low back.

Amilei's shoulders slumped to which the maid immediately responded by yanking them upright and back.

The maid nodded and began running a brush through Amilei's white blonde hair. Eventually the long, silky mop was transformed into an artfully designed hairstyle that included several braids.

"There!" The woman exclaimed as she finished and held a mirror up for Amilei to see herself in.

"I'm sure it looks wonderful." Amilei replied and turned away before she could catch a glimpse of herself in the shiny metal.

"You are surely one of the most beautiful women in all the land, second only to the Sultan's wife." The maid said dutifully, slightly shocked by the realization that she meant what she said about the Empire woman.

Amilei nodded, not believing a word of what the maid said, but not wanting to draw any complements when she denied it either.

"His highness will be here soon to escort you to wedding hall." The Desert woman called over her shoulder as she anxiously fled the room.

Amilei had to use all of her well-earned will to not burst into tears right then and there. Instead she allowed the other woman to pin a white veil over her hair and face.

"Amilei?" A voice called into her room and the young woman turned to face her future.

* * *

Sharley barely even glanced down as the tiny Empire woman as she latched onto his arm, before he rushed them towards the wedding hall. "Since you can speak the Desert language the ceremony well be performed using it. If you want we can also have it translated into the-"

Amilei cut Sharley off with a shake of her head. "The Desert language will be fine. No one from my country will be attending my wedding." She sounded almost sad; Sharley realized with a painful stab to his heart that he quickly tried to quell.

"I want you to know that we will not be remaining in the Desert Kingdom for long after we... after we're married." Sharley forced the words past his lips as his grip tightened over the arm of the young woman.

Amilei came to a dead stop in the middle of the hall, forcing him to stop or leave her behind. "Why not?" She asked and Sharley could hear the fear in her voice as clearly as he could feel her trembling.

"I wish to introduce you to my family. They will be very happy to meet you." Sharley answered honestly. "My mother has been dying for one of her children to get married and provide her with grandchildren."

"Children?" Amilei whispered and Sharley took a step closer.

"I will force you into nothing, but," He paused and started up at the ceiling for a moment before glancing back down at her. "This will be a marriage in every way." He paused again and sighed loudly. "Are you alright with that?"

"I, I have always wanted children." Amilei whispered and Sharley sensed that she was hiding something.

"But not with me? A stranger you've never met and know nothing about. A man from a barbaric land." Sharley replied as he started walking again, tugging on Amilei into moving with him.

"I know more about you than you would think, Charlemagne." Amilei said very softly as they entered the wedding hall arm in arm.

Sharley took a moment before answering, having recognized the clear threat in her statement. "I do not doubt it."

"You're a very smart man, Charlemagne."

"I inherited it."

"Are you prepared for what is to come between us?" Amilei asked, not referring to the marriage bed.

"Prepared? No." Sharley asked and answered with one breath. "Aware of the struggles that will undoubtedly take place? Possibly."

Amilei nodded slowly. "I am glad." She whispered to Sharley as they both knelt at Mekhmet's feet.

Moments later Amilei of the Polypontian Empire became wife to Charlemagne of the Icemark.

* * *

Amilei closed her eyes as Sharley reached to lift the veil that covered her face and she heard his sharp intake of air.

_I'm even more hideous than he imagined!_ Amilei thought and slowly opened her eyes to stare for the first time into her husband's bright green orbs. Amilei was slightly shocked by the heat she found was staring back at her. She dropped her gaze and waited as Charlemagne pressed a kiss to her brow before letting the veil fall to the ground at their feet.

"May I present my wife, Amilei Lindenshield." Amilei blushed slightly as an uproar was drawn from the crowd in her name.

Charlemagne led Amilei down from the platform and into another room filled with tables and every kind of food imaginable.

It was over an hour later before Charlemagne spoke to Amilei again. "Would you like some more sherbet?" Amilei glanced up as her husband asked her the question.

"No, thank you." She replied and kept her face down over her plate before taking about bite of some sort of fruit.

* * *

Sharley examined the profile of his wife. _She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen..._ He thought privately and vowed to never allow Amilei the knowledge of how her beauty affected him. _I have absolutely no doubt that she would use it against me. _

Another hour pasted before Mekhmet caught Sharley's eye and frowned disapprovingly. Sharley turned bright red at the implications. Usually but this time the newly married couple had retired to their chambers.

Mekhmet continued to glare at Sharley until finally the young man grew uncomfortable enough to give up and rise. Silence fell over the crowded room as Sharley held out his hand and brought his wife to her feet as well.

_I will have hell to pay for this in the morning._ Sharley shot daggers with his eyes as he passed his friend.

"Have fun." Mekmet said softly to Sharley and Amilei.

"You are good friends with the Sultan." Amilei commented once she and Sharley were out of hearing distance.

Sharley glanced down at her, surprised to hear her speak for the first time in hours.

Amilei blushed prettily under his close scrutiny.

"Yes." Sharley finally replied, although she hadn't really asked a question.

Amilei nodded in response to his tone. "It is quite obvious."

"Is it?" Sharley asked in a bored tone, even though he was feeling anything but bored.

"Yes." Amilei resorted to Sharley's method of answering questions.

"Hmm." Sharley mumbled as he opened a solid wood door and dragged Amilei through it.

* * *

Amilei watched as her husband bolted the door behind them and she forced herself to remain calm. _You knew this would happen. You'll be fine if you just stay quiet and do everything he says._ She admonished herself as she watched the man turn and advance towards her.

"This morning Mekhmet scolded me for not dressing up for you... he said I'd look like an arse when you showed up wearing all you wedding finery." Amilei felt her cool resolve melting as Charlemagne's breath came out hot against her ear. "Now I realize I would indeed have looked like an arse dressed up when you yourself came wearing this."

She could feel his fingers along her waist, rubbing the soft fabric.

Amilei dropped her eyes to the floor as she remembered her exact reason for wearing the simple clothes. "I was hoping you would not want me if I came dressed as a peasant." She whispered before glancing up to meet his hot, green gaze.

"Oh, my dear wife, I do not think there is a way for me to stop wanting you." Charlemagne muttered despite the vow he'd made to himself.

"I," Amilei started and then stopped, frightened by the depth of Charlemagne's words. At that moment Sharley leaned in and tilted Amilei's chin up. "Charlemagne!"

"Sharley."

"What?"

"Sharley. Call me Sharley. Everyone else does."

"Oh," Amilei paused and fought her strict upbringing. "Sharley?" She whispered, her lower lip trembling.

"Yes?"

"Will, you, that is, will you kiss me?" Amilei stared up at her husband. When he didn't answer she dropped her gaze to the floor, ashamed.

* * *

Sharley fought the urge to do exactly as she asked for half a breath before realizing how futile it was to do so. _She is my wife. Why am I fighting something that should come naturally for us?_ Sharley asked himself as he pressed his lips against her softer ones.

After a few moments Sharley drew back and studied Amilei's expression closely. Amilei, having sensed the scrutiny, met his gaze.

"Is that all?"

Sharley smiled slightly before leaning in again. This time the kiss was not one of chasteness but one of passion and longing.

"Sharley," Amilei moaned and pressed herself closer against him, reaching up a hand to twine her fingers in his hair.

Sharley wrapped an arm around her slender waist and crushed her even tighter against his body until she was gasping for breath beneath his lips.

"Amilei," Sharley murmured as he left her mouth to trail kisses over her jaw and down her throat.

"Stop!" Amilei's body language changed in the blink of an eye and she fought against his grip.

"What is wrong?" Sharley asked, confused by her reaction.

At eighteen Sharley was not innocent to intimacies between a man and a woman.

"Just stop!" Amilei cried again, her fear level rising. She shoved her way out of his arms and pressed her body against that wall.

"Amilei," Sharley started, stepping forward and holding out a hand to brush back a stray lock of hair from her face.

"Please, just stop!" Amilei begged and slowly slit to her knees at, hunkered at Sharley's feet.

Sharley nodded and took several steps back. Amilei sobbed in relief and crumpled into a ball.

An eerie silence filled with tension and dread fell over the room as Amilei and Sharley remained where they were on separate sides of the room, making no effort to communicate with one another.

Enough time passed that Amilei fell into an exhausted form of sleep.

Realizing his wife was no longer conscious; frowning, Sharley and scooped the small female up. He walked across the room to gently place her on the bed, tucking her under the thin fabric before allowing his thumb to brush away a few stray tears that lingered under darkened eyelids.

Sharley made his way to a chair on the other side of the room and kicked his boots off. "So much for a happy wedding night." He grumbled and fell into the small chair.

He tossed and turned, trying to make himself comfortable before finally falling asleep despite the small fact the chair was much too little for his rather large frame.


	3. Leaving Home

**Chapter Three:**

**Leaving Home**

_**

* * *

**_

Amilei blinked her eyes open slowly and the full force of what had happened the night before hit sat straight up in bed, her breathing ragged. Amilei glanced first to the right of her on the bed then to the left. Charlemagne was not lying beside her.

Amilei frowned and her gaze turned to room, sweeping across the furniture without leaving an object unchecked. Finally, Amilei spotted Charlemagne curled up in a braided wicker chair using his muscular forearm as a pillow for his head.

She slowly crawled to the end of the bed to get a closer look at the man who was now her husband. Charlemagne was probably the most handsome man Amilei had ever seen, not that she'd ever been allowed to observe that many men. But with his red-gold halo of hair and bright green eyes her husband was certainly attractive. Wait, bright green eyes?

"Like what you see?" Amilei reared back when she noticed that Sharley had woken to found her inspecting him. "Well?" Sharley asked cockily as he rose and stretched.

Amilei stared up at the impressive man before her, unable to move from her spot on the bed. "I don't know..." She finally blurted and dropped her gaze.

Sharley immediately sensed that something had changed, and not for the better, so he rushed to fix it. "Hey now, you've nothing to be ashamed of. I'm rather good looking and everyone knows it." He grinned and leaned forward to trap Amilei in between the bed and his bare chest.

"I've never been alone with a man before." Amilei whispered and her eyes flickered up to stare into Sharley's.

"Well that's good." He replied and grinned rakishly before adding, "But I think you're going to be spending a lot more time alone with me."

"I am?" Amilei asked, her eyes wide with innocence.

"Yes." Sharley replied as he looped an arm around her waist and crushed her body to him while pressing his lips against her rose petal ones. "Tell me to stop and at any time and I will. You have nothing to fear from me." He whispered as he drew back ever so slightly.

Amilei nodded before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close once more.

Sharley groaned and took a knee on the bed, pinning her down beneath his muscular frame. He continued to kiss her until he felt the change, just as he had the night before.

"Stop." She whispered and Sharley immediately rolled off and lay on his back beside her, breathing heavily.

"See, all you have to do is say the word." He said in a ragged voice as he rolled off the bed and stood up, pausing only to brush a kiss to her temple. "I'll give you some privacy." And with that he was gone.

Amilei continued to lay on her back until she finally regained control of her body long enough to stand and make her way to the bathroom where she washed up and changed into a white smock and cream colored pants. She exited the room to fine Sharley standing by the bed, his back to her.

"What are you doing?" Amilei asked and then gasped, aware that she'd just questioned her husband.

Sharley, on the other hand, seemed not to even notice that she broken on of the Empire's severest laws. "Giving anyone proof if they ask for it."

Amilei rounded the side of the bed just in time to see her husband drip blood from his hand over the bottom sheet of the bed. She turned bright red and quickly turned her face away. "Thank you." She managed to whisper before fleeing to the balcony to gaze at the sparkling desert sands.

A few moments later Sharley joined her, his left hand freshly wrapped with black cloth that matched his entirely black clothing perfectly.

"We don't match." Amilei muttered as she turned to inspect his dark clothing compared to her light ones.

"No. But we'll both stand out against the reds and browns of the Desert Kingdom." He replied as her slender fingers took his hand and turned it over to inspect the wounded palm.

"Thank you." She repeated.

"You don't have to thank me." Sharley replied and withdrew his hand from her grip. "I'm your husband. I'm supposed to protect you."

"I know." She replied and paused before adding, "But thank you."

Sharley nodded slowly. "You're welcome."

The silence stretched on until Sharley felt the need to say something. He opened his mouth but before he could speak Amilei whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sharley asked, taken aback by her odd apology.

"I'm sorry for not being a proper wife." Large tears spilt from her eyes creating a steady stream of salty water that poured down her delicate cheeks.

"Oh Princess," Sharley said with a snort and drew her into his arms, cradling her head against his well-developed chest. "What would ever make you think I'd want a proper wife?"

"Charlemagne, all men want proper wives. And if they can't have proper than they at least want willing ones." Amilei had extracted herself from Sharley's arms as she spoke and continued to back away when he didn't.

"Is that what you think?" Sharley's voice sounded calm but his expression betrayed the fire that would soon spill over.

Amilei could only nod.

"Well you're wrong." And with those three words Sharley shoved past his tiny wife and exited the bedroom, slamming the door closed behind him.

She waited for a few minutes, her eyes rooted to the door in a feeble hope that'd he'd come back.

He didn't.

Amilei dropped to her knees and sobs wracked her body as she pressed her forehead to the stone floor of the balcony.

* * *

Sharley stayed away from his wife for five days, only bothering once to ask a maid to check up on her.

Amilei waited in silence, occasionally staring out across the wide, seemingly endless sands. Eventually reality sunk in and she asked for some paper and charcoal. That was what Sharley found her doing when at last he returned to her side.

She had drawn and image of stretch of mountains and a small trail leading up into them. Along side the trail there were many beautiful flowers that Sharley couldn't identify.

"Is this your home?" He asked, bending over her to examine the drawing closer.

Amilei let out a yelp of shock and nearly toppled off the stool she'd been perching upon. Fortunately for her, Sharley caught her around the waist and held her steady.

Once Amilei had righted herself and her heart rate had returned to normal she answered him. "Yes. How could you tell?"

"I don't recognize any of the plant life." Sharley mumbled in response and he grabbed her left hand to examine it closer. "You're all sooty." He commented, making her laugh.

"I'm using charcoal to draw with, Sharley." Her words were as light and airy as the spring winds in the Icemark.

"Hmm, it appears I am also sooty."

Amilei laughed again and swiped her fingers across his cleanly shaven jaw line. "If you weren't before you certainly are now!"

"Oh you little minx!" Sharley exclaimed and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his chest to her back and rubbing his dirty cheek against one of her clean ones. "Now we're both all dirty!"

Several more moments past filled with pleasant laughter before Amilei's smile faded and her eyes searched Sharley's face. "What did you want to tell me?"

He glanced evasively away, his grip on her waist loosening. "What makes me think I wanted to tell you something?"

"I haven't seen you in five days." She replied and he sighed. "I missed you." Amilei added in a whispered.

Sharley appeared not to hear her because he took a breath and began to speak. "We're leaving for my oasis tomorrow morning."

Amilei's gaze dropped but she remained silent; it was a grave offense to speak out against one's husband. One Amilei wasn't going to break now matter how different things seemed between her and Sharley than with her mother and father.

"Will you spend the night here?" She asked.

Sharley hesitated before nodding. "I will if you want me to."

"I want you here."

And with that Sharley's mind was made up.

"Alright, but I'll sleep in the chair."

Amilei hesitated before shaking her head. "No... but would you mind if we did not engage in, well," Her face heated and her gaze dropped to the floor.

"I'll just lay beside you the whole night, nothing more. How does that sound?"

She glanced up into Sharley's smiling face, his expression tolerant and tender. "It sounds perfect."

"The matter is settled then?" He asked and his smile turned into a playful grin.

"Yes, it is settled." Amilei replied with a laugh.

* * *

Amilei lay in bed for nearly an hour before Sharley stumbled into the dark room. He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like a curse under his breath as he kicked off his boots and fell on to the bed beside her. Moments later she felt his arm encircle her waist and she was dragged flush against his bare chest. Her hands pressed against a sturdy wall of muscle.

She held very still and soon realized that he'd fallen asleep with his nose in her hair and her head tucked beneath his chin.

Amilei smiled slightly and drifted off blissfully into oblivion.

Husband and wife slept peacefully that night for the first time since they'd been married; their dreams warm and comfortable as the lay in on another's arms.


End file.
